Bitcoin Depot, the largest bitcoin ATM operator in North America and publicly listed on Nasdaq, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
What to know:
- Bitcoin Depot, once the largest bitcoin ATM operator in North America and publicly listed on Nasdaq, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
- The Atlanta-based company has blamed increasingly stringent state regulations and enforcement for making its business model unsustainable.
- Bitcoin Depot faces a high-profile lawsuit from the attorneys general of Massachusetts and Iowa over alleged facilitation of crypto scams.
Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin Depot, which once operated the largest network of bitcoin ATMs in North America, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and is shutting down.
The Atlanta-based company filed voluntarily in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas on Monday, saying it would wind down operations and sell its assets in an orderly, court-supervised process. Its entire ATM network has already been taken offline.
At one point last year, the company operated 9,276 kiosks, allowing customers to convert cash into bitcoin in retail locations throughout the U.S., Canada and Australia. The company went public on Nasdaq in 2023.
The writing was perhaps on the wall after the preliminary first-quarter earnings report showed a 49% collapse in revenue from a year earlier. The company swung from a $12.2 million profit to a $9.5 million loss in the same period. Gross profit also fell 85% to $4.5 million.
The company blamed regulation for its decline. “States have imposed increasingly stringent compliance obligations, including new transaction limits, and in some jurisdictions, outright restrictions or bans on BTM operations; and operators have faced increasing litigation and regulatory enforcement,” Alex Holmes, CEO of Bitcoin Depot, said in the press release.
“These developments have materially affected Bitcoin Depot’s business and financial position. Under these circumstances, the Company’s current business model is unsustainable,” he added.
Bitcoin Depot is facing a high-profile lawsuit led by attorneys general in Massachusetts and Iowa over allegations that it facilitated crypto scams. Crypto ATM fraud hit a record $389 million in reported losses last year, a 58% increase from 2024, drawing increased scrutiny from regulators and prosecutors.
The company’s Canadian entities are included in the U.S. court-supervised bankruptcy process. Other non-U.S. entities will wind down operations in accordance with the law in their respective countries.
The company’s collapse comes at a moment when the broader industry is riding a wave of institutional adoption through alternative investment vehicles such as ETFs and the recent progress of the Clarity Act.
UPDATE (May 18, 13:14 UTC): Changes lead image.
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